The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 182

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Academy Weapon Replicator Episode 182
Chapter 58: Toward the Fragment (2)
Frontdier passed safely through the wall of Monsters and ventured beyond.
As he pushed through trees and brush, he soon discovered a path that was easy to traverse—the very same route the Roach Knight Order had once beaten into the earth while tracking the Fragment’s location.
“……Frontdier.”
As they advanced along the path, with its gently sloping sides that opened like a wide furrow, Selena spoke.
“Even if the Fragment of Helheim was beyond the Barrier at Yeran Hess from the start, for a Black Monster to manifest the moment you arrived, Frontdier—it doesn’t feel like coincidence. And that’s not all. In this Barrier battle, I sense a peculiar intent behind the Monster forces.”
“…….”
“I think you anticipated this too, which is why you gave me those orders.”
Selena’s sharp words. Frontdier did not answer. Whatever he said, Selena had likely already grasped the truth.
“The power to create Black Monsters from the Fragment, and to command an enormous army of Monsters in totality.”
Just as he thought.
Behind Frontdier, Selena’s voice deepened with quiet gravity.
“……A god has intervened.”
“Yes.”
“So we’re heading toward the Fragment of Helheim, where a god has intervened.”
“That’s right.”
Frontdier’s answer was as composed as Selena’s own. Hearing him, Selena fell silent for a moment.
Frontdier asked her.
“Are you afraid?”
“Pardon?”
“My arrival here and the emergence of the Black Monster from the Fragment occurred at the same time. This is no coincidence. The god is clearly aware of me, and has intervened in the Fragment of Helheim because of it. Everything leading to my presence here might be the god’s trap.”
Frontdier thought that while reaching this place had been arduous, things had gone well.
And precisely because of that, he was concerned about how far the god had prepared ahead.
‘It’s certainly not a Complete Incarnation.’
Whatever god this was, if they had truly succeeded in manifesting through the Fragment and the Monsters’ worship, they would not move in such a complicated manner. If Frontdier displeased them, they could kill him outright.
But they cannot do this. That means, despite their intervention, they cannot act freely as they wish.
So what mattered was what came after reaching the Fragment. There was surely something prepared there.
“If I fall into a trap, there’s a possibility you’ll be caught up in it as well. No—at the very moment you’re helping me, the god may intend to kill us both. That should be frightening.”
Even as Frontdier spoke, he could not fully understand his own intentions. Why was he saying this to Selena?
To safely reach the Fragment, Selena’s near-perfect close-combat defense was essential. He should have stayed silent rather than needlessly scare her.
……Yet still, he wanted to speak.
I am putting you in danger. Will you help me anyway?
Did he want to hear ‘yes’ to such a question, Frontdier? That was audacious even for him.
“……A bodyguard,”
Selena, who had seemed to be mulling something over, then spoke.
“Does not concern herself with ‘becoming caught up’ in the danger of the person she protects. Being caught up in it is her duty.”
At those words, Frontdier bowed his head. He felt something close to admiration toward Selena.
Though it was late to say it now, Selena was not truly his bodyguard. Bodyguard was merely a formal title Frontdier used when introducing her.
Selena surely had not forgotten that. She had simply chosen to answer in this way.
“And my concern lies elsewhere entirely.”
“Elsewhere?”
“Have you forgotten? You said you would help me meet my family. That you would make me know my Clan, know who I am.”
Before meeting Frontdier, Selena did not know who she was. She had lost her Memory completely.
Selena de Banier. Though she was the daughter of the Banier Clan, she felt a strange familiarity with that name alone. Because of this, she trusted Frontdier.
“You’re right.”
Frontdier nodded. He had never forgotten or overlooked his promise with Selena.
But he could not introduce Selena to the Banier Clan now. Given how important Selena was to Mangot, there was a high chance that Mangot had set some scheme concerning the Banier Clan as well. He could not allow Selena to meet her own family.
In other words, he would reunite Selena with her family only after he finished with Mangot.
Of course, he could not tell her this. By her position, she was Mangot’s person, and she had not fully committed her heart to becoming his ally.
“That is why you must not die. Not until you’ve kept that promise with me. Why else would I protect you?”
“True.”
“Do not mistake yourself for being important to me.”
Words she had spoken to him once before. Her voice was still deliberately cold as it had been then, yet Selena added one more thing.
“You must not die.”
“I won’t.”
As Frontdier answered, he felt clarity settle in his heart.
This degree of relationship with Selena was appropriate. They each wanted something from the other, and therefore cooperated—now, there was no need for superfluous thoughts or feelings.
……Only.
‘When will I be able to tell her that.’
There is something Frontdier has not told Selena.
That Mangot killed her father.
Will the day ever come when Frontdier speaks those words aloud? It was the only thing that remained in his heart.

* * *
Frontdier and Selena emerged from the narrow forest path.
But soon they had no choice but to stop.
Before them loomed a sheer cliff face.
“This was certainly an excellent spot for an ambush.”
“It is. If the enemy flees due to the ambush, that settles it. If they try to force their way through, we draw them toward this cliff.”
Frontdier and Selena had come this far on a single horse, but normally a cavalry unit like the Roach Knight Order would arrive with many riders. It is not easy for mounted troops to come to a halt the moment they spot a cliff.
Even if the vanguard stops before the precipice, those behind cannot stop in time and are pushed forward all at once, plummeting over the edge.
And even if that were not the case, with the cliff at their backs, a confrontation with the ambushed Monsters would demand resignation to death.
“That said, we have not taken the wrong path. Look there.”
Beyond the cliff, Frontdier could see the Great Plain at the edge of where the forest ended.
Both fell silent, their expressions hardening. Even Cassian, the horse they rode, seemed tense, nervously tapping the ground with his hooves.
They had found it.
A colossal glacier suspended above the plain, filled entirely with something black.
“That is the Fragment of Helheim.”
Even if one called it a plain, this place lay far to the north of Yeran Hess. The ground was frozen solid, and the forest was thick with thorned trees hardy enough to endure the winter.
And across the expanse of their vision: hordes of enormous Monsters.
“It is staggering. These are not merely numerous—they are superior in quality as well, all gathered around that glacier.”
“You said they worship it, and indeed it appears so.”
Remarkably, the Monsters had all surrounded the glacier, kneeling and bowing their heads. Whether they stood on two legs or four, it was the same.
“If all those Monsters had joined in the battle at the Barrier, it would have been far more dangerous.”
“Conversely, for the god to exert power in this world, it seems to require the worship of a Monster force of that magnitude.”
If those Monsters were sent to fight at the Barrier and their worship weakened, the god’s commands would not reach them. That would be putting the cart before the horse.
That massive horde was likely the absolute minimum required for the god to wield power.
“Yet no Monsters have come this way. I had braced myself for that possibility, truth be told.”
“I was concerned about that as well, but it seems they cannot do so even if they wished. This path is well-suited for ambush, but it is not the sort of place where a large Monster force could traverse easily.”
Moreover, they would have to climb this cliff, which multiplies the difficulty. There is no terrain that favors one side entirely. When circumstances shift and the tide of battle changes, ground that once seemed advantageous can suddenly become a liability.
Unless an ambush had been prepared in advance, this was a position difficult for Monsters to reach.
“So what do we do? Even if they are distracted by their worship, their numbers are overwhelming. Can we break through that horde and reach the Fragment?”
“This is a cliff, and we hold the higher ground—that works in our favor. I will activate Menosorpho and fly swiftly to the Fragment. That is all.”
“There are flying creatures among them. Surely some possess ranged attacks as well.”
“A Monster’s flight necessarily requires wings. To respond to a sudden assault, they must flutter those wings to secure adequate time for preparation. It will be somewhat dangerous, but it is a risk we must accept.”
Frontdier drew a deep breath, his lips pressed tightly together with tension. Selena watched him with a puzzled expression for a moment, then seized his sleeve just as he began to move.
“What is it, Selena?”
“……You cannot possibly be thinking—”
“Thinking what?”
“That you would go alone?”
At those words, Frontdier looked at Selena.
Selena glared at him with genuine anger, her eyes blazing.
“……You are too heavy for me to carry while flying, Selena.”
“I trust you do not think such words will suffice to dismiss me. Your intention to go alone is far too transparent.”
Frontdier tried to slip his sleeve free from her grasp, but it was futile. Selena’s strength already far exceeded his, and she gripped the fabric with such force it seemed ready to tear.
“I am your bodyguard, and you cannot trust me in the most critical moment. How convenient.”
“……”
“Whether they fly or strike from a distance, I will handle the lesser threats until we reach the Fragment.”
Her voice was measured yet unyielding. Frontdier stood silent before it, then closed his eyes.
Of course, Selena would prove invaluable until they reached the Fragment. Frontdier did not doubt her abilities. He harbored no fear that she would fall to a Monster’s attack.
But Frontdier felt a deep unease about the Fragment itself. When he had absorbed the Black Monster, he’d sensed something hideously foul, and this massive glacier was that same corruption densely compressed into one form.
And he was nearly certain the god had done something at that location—close to one hundred percent certain.
When that moment came, Frontdier could not guarantee Selena’s safety. It was all too inevitable that she would be caught up in whatever transpired, standing so close beside him.
What was he to do? Should he trust Selena and fly together? Or should he somehow pry her loose and charge in alone?
As Frontdier’s deliberation deepened—
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!
Frontdier and Selena’s ears perked up at the familiar sound.
From a direction opposite to theirs, a mounted group was advancing toward the Fragment.
Clad entirely in black robes to conceal their forms, they were unmistakably human—a band of riders on horseback, advancing steadily toward the Fragment of Helheim.
Confirming Frontdier’s charge, there was no way Sylvain or the Roach Knight Order—busy with the Barrier battle by now—would arrive here.
Angen was in the same position. His forces couldn’t spare a single soldier for this place.
In other words, these weren’t Yeran Hess’s troops.
‘……That woman.’
Frontdier recognized a familiar face glimpsed between the folds of the robes.
A woman he’d shared a deep rapport and conversation with not long ago caught his eye.
Lorie. That brilliant golden hair and delicate features were far too conspicuous to hide beneath a robe.
In other words,
“The Empire’s Secret Service.”
Whatever intelligence Lorie had conveyed to the Secret Service, they’d decided to send a unit to strike at the Fragment.
Selena, who’d been watching this unfold, asked quietly.
“……Will you help them?”
Regardless of how skilled the Secret Service operatives were, that small a force wouldn’t easily break through the monsters to reach the Fragment.
After all, the Secret Service was trained to throw away their lives for the Empire’s interests.
The ones charging in now probably had at most a thirty percent chance of actually destroying the Fragment—they knew they were walking to their deaths. They were lives treated that carelessly.
Knowing this, Frontdier answered.
“Why would I?”
…….
Frontdier surveyed the Secret Service’s approach route and the entire battlefield once more, then spoke again.
“Unless it serves my purposes.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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